All for Nothing
by Carry On Wayward Archer
Summary: Times are different now. Back in the day, they wouldn't be creeping through town after town, in clothes that were torn and bloody, and bodies caked in grime. They wouldn't be living with the fear that every passing second, every passing moment, could be their last. But as I said, things are different. Artemis/Nightwing. Read and Review!


**Ok, so this is my first prompted story, and my first traught! (I just realized I'm starting to get a collection of every pairing going, seeing that I'm also working on a Spitfire story- gasp! spoilers!) I wrote this one a bit different then I normally write, and I'm not quite sure if I like it or how it turned out- so tell me what you think!**

**Thanks again to my fab beta sagestormashes. AGAIN you have worked magic on this story and saved it from drowning in commas!**

**Ok, this is set in the future, and for those who may be confused, no one knows Nightwing's ID... enjoy!**

* * *

**Beginning of the End**

They crept through the desolate streets, aware of every noise, every shift of the wind, every rustle of the grass. Nightwing was silent and in full superhero mode. Each step was painstakingly planned, and progress through the abandoned town was tortuously slow. Back in the day, Artemis would've joked about that, but things are different. In the good old days, they wouldn't be creeping through town after town, in clothes that were torn and bloody, and bodies caked in grime. They wouldn't be living with the fear that every passing second, every passing moment, could be their last.

* * *

Their hideout had been good to them so far; Batman had stocked it well and it had provided them safety and food for the last month. It was hidden deep underground, and the only way to get to it was through booby traps and mine fields; and that only got you into the outer area of the hideout. There were hundreds more locks, tests, and safety features between the outer shell and the inner cabin. This way, Artemis, Nightwing, and Batman would be the only ones able to get in and there would be no chance of any of the undead invading their last hope of survival.

They had laid low for the last month, just stayed in the hideout watching the newscasts as one by one each city was overrun, destroyed, and the people either eaten, or turned. They spent hours studying the corpses of the few zombies that had been killed, trying to figure out a strategy to defend themselves against them, or at _least_ keep them from turning as well.

Artemis initially helped in the research, but once the experiments and theology became too complicated, she left the Dynamic Duo to their research, and retired to her room, trying to keep herself from accepting the fact that almost everyone she cared about: M'gann, Wally, Connor, and even _Cheshire_, were probably dead. Well, not _dead_, but for all intent purposes, if they truly _were…._gone, they might as well be.

* * *

Days went by without Batman or Nightwing leaving their lab. Artemis started bringing food in and out of the room, and made sure that they ate. It was the least she could do, not being able to help with anything else. After about a week, Artemis could tell things weren't going anywhere when she walked into the lab and saw their research table flipped, paper and coffee streaming across the floor. Batman was standing, and just stared at the screen, and Nightwing was in the opposite side of the room, pacing pack and forth. Neither of them acknowledged her as she set the table back up and cleaned up the mess.

Another week passed, and even with the brilliant minds of Nightwing and Batman combined, they drew up blank, with no answer to how the change occurs, or how to prevent themselves from it. The only thing they learned were the strategic places on the zombie to kill it. They had run hundreds of simulations and concluded that the only sure-fire way to kill them, kill them _for good,_ was with a direct headshot. But other than that discovery- nothing. It appeared that there was nothing that they could do to take back the world that was once theirs.

After about three weeks, Batman decided that now would be the time to go and restock supplies, while there were still a couple of standing cities left. The zombies had taken over every city except a lucky few- and the longer they waited the larger the chance that they would run out of food and have no way of getting more.

Artemis and Nightwing immediately volunteered to go out. They were made for this, and were itching for a little action. Artemis especially wanted to go out, needing to prove to herself and everyone else that she wasn't as useless as she'd been lately.

Batman, however, was hearing none of it. He was adamant about going alone, and there was nothing that either of the two could do to change his mind. He prepared for his trip in silence, taking the stealth car as well as the gun that they had developed to shoot 5000 rounds a minute. When he was ready, he went up to Artemis. With a blank expression, he shook her hand. He then turned to Nightwing to do the same. When Batman grasped his hand, Nightwing pulled him into a tight embrace. The words "come home" radiated from every pore in his body.

Batman pulled back, and looked his protégé in the eye. He gave a curt nod, before turning around and going into the car. The two superheroes could only watch as he pulled out, and hope for the best. As soon as he left, Artemis and Nightwing quickly returned to the living room, and turned on the TV.

Artemis and Nightwing watched the last remaining newscast nonstop, waiting for news or any information on what was going on out there. Batman messaged Nightwing when he arrived at the city, saying that everything was calm, and that he had already entered the supermarket. The next several minutes passed slowly, as they waited for Batman to finish stocking up and get out. He said that he would be done in ten minutes; that was twelve minutes ago.

As the clock hand slowly turned, Nightwing felt his blood turn cold. Each movement of the hand was like a drop in the temperature. When 15 minutes had passed, Nightwing got a message that he had gotten all the supplies necessary and was heading he saw that, he immediately felt himself relax a little bit. Sure, he wasn't back safely yet, but the worst was over.

Two minutes after getting the text, all hell broke loose. From every side of the live video feed, the zombies came pouring into the city. There was nothing they could do as they watched the news reporter get eaten in front of their eyes.

Nightwing had gone rigid, and stared intently at the screen, watching for any sign of his mentor and father. Somehow Artemis's hand had gotten intertwined with his, and he has it tightly, tendons popping out; knuckles white. Artemis knew she would probably have bruises later, but right now all that mattered was that Batman make it _out_.

Soon he came into the corner of the screen, fighting for his life. Nightwing sat up even straighter, and Artemis wasn't sure he was breathing anymore. Batman was getting swarmed, and the zombies just kept coming. Every zombie he killed, two or three more would take their place. Within moments, the caped crusader was invisible; all that could be seen were the flailing arms of the zombies. When a chunk of black was thrown out of the middle of the pack, Artemis grabbed the remote and switched off the TV.

She looked over at Nightwing, and saw him in the same position, unmoving. A thick tear slowly rolled down his face. When he didn't make any sign that he had even noticed its existence, Artemis rolled over and wrapped her arms around Nightwing, like a human shield between him and the real world. At that moment, Artemis would have given anything to have been able to make everything go away. She tightened her embrace, and if he hadn't been Nightwing, she'd have been afraid of hurting him. Initially he was stiff in the embrace, but shortly after she tightened her grip did he come apart, with dry, wracking sobs filled the room. He circled his arms around her, and pulled her closer to him, and just held onto her.

Time became arbitrary as they just sat there, wrapped in each others arms. Artemis alternated between rubbing and drawing lazy circles on his back. It soothed him more than he thought it would, and her reassuring touch slowed the shaking of his body and soul, until the sobs that shook his body slowed, and left him feeling heavy and tired.

Even when he stopped crying, Artemis didn't let go. She just tightened her arms around him, and drew on his back. It made it easier for him, having her there, helping him through it. With her arms around him, Nightwing started to feel like it was going to be okay. He closed his eyes against her, and sank into a restless sleep.

* * *

The next couple of days were stressed and silent. They didn't talk much, and they didn't make for good company. The TV blared in to background, and it didn't take long for Nightwing to snap and rip the wires out of the wall, sufficiently shutting it up.

Soon however, they began to face another problem. They had come to a severe food shortage, and they weren't going to live much longer than a month if they didn't do anything about it. Reluctantly, they agreed to go out and scavenge whatever they could from the surrounding cities. Two weeks. They gave themselves two weeks to get as much as they could before returning to the base.

They packed all day and all night, preparing for anything. Artemis sharpened and cleaned her arrows, and Nightwing meticulously packed away and stored all his weapons.

Finally, when the sun peaked over the horizon, they slipped out of the hideout, ready to survive.

* * *

They hadn't been outside since the first day the zombies attacked, and seeing the wreckage and complete annihilation of the cities and homes of their friends and family made Artemis shell shocked. Blood was splattered over the walls that hadn't collapsed, and debris and smoke rose from masses of broken piles of concrete and wood. It was hard to believe that this, this _wasteland_ had once been Star City. They had been here before, on multiple missions, which only made these trips all the more traumatizing.

They bore it though, as they always have with their talents combined, Artemis and Nightwing _survived_. They scavenged collapsed buildings for food and gathered a lot of ammunition. On the fifth day, quite by accident, they stumbled upon a safe house. That was the first moment if truly crossed their minds that other groups of people could have survived.

With high hopes, they knocked on the entrance to the shelter. When no one answered for several minutes, Artemis and Nightwing decided to go in. When they turned the knob on the door, they were surprised that there were no locks except for one, which was brittle and rusty. One blow from Nightwing and it fell right off. Suddenly, conscious about the safety of the hideout, Artemis notched an arrow and Nightwing raised his escrima sticks; and they prepared themselves for anything to come running at them.

Silently, they wandered through the building, checking every room for anything moving. After searching for over an hour, they gave up on the thought of survivors. Artemis and Nightwing ended up in the kitchen, where there was a large store of food. To their utter disbelief, most of it was still edible.

That was the start of their "missions", as they called them. For the first of the raids, they would find other hideouts, inhabited or otherwise, and stock up on supplies. They had been on the raid for a little over a week, and had gotten enough food to last them a long time; 10 months minimum, a year and a half if they rationed.

On their last stop, Nightwing and Artemis were in yet another abandoned safe house. They were lucky to have found this one- the entrance had been hidden under a fallen telephone booth and was practically invisible. The place must have been dug out of the ground hastily, because the dirt walls were full of large indentations- evidence of hasty machine operation. The roof of the house was level with the ground, and there were many patches in the ceiling were light shone through, as they could see the sky above.

Artemis was sitting in a chair, and was cleaning her arrows and restringing her bow. Nightwing was sitting across from her on the ground, preparing their bags for the trip back. They were both in good spirits, due to the unexpected jackpot at their previous stop. They had found a lot of repair supplies, something that was not to be overlooked. All their clothes had become torn up, and the fabric and thread found with the sewing machine really made it an extremely successful raid.

"I can't believe how lucky we've been! And to think that it's over- home stretch, right! I can't wait 'till we are back in _our_ hideout. I'll feel like I'll finally be able to breathe again. We're going to be able to finally _relax_." Artemis said lightly.

"Oh, about that- er, Artemis, I know we planned for this trip to only be two weeks, and we've gotten more things than we'd ever hoped to get… but we're in San Jose!

"Yes?"

"Which means we're only five minutes away from Star City."

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"I think- I think we should have one more stop."

"But _why_, Nightwing? We've already gotten so much, and-"

"But that's my point! Star City is bound to be full of little pockets of survivors, and there is sure to be even more supplies and things for us to get then in any other raid we've had. We'll have enough stuff to last us a whole two years! **Without** rationing! We will be able to have a _life_, Artemis. Sure, it's not the one either of us would have ever planned, but we will be alive all the same, and _happy_. And by the time only _half_ of our food has run out, we will have found a way out of this whole fucking situation. We can **do** this, Artemis!"

"But, Nightwing, don't you think were testing fate every time we go out? We should head back while the goings good. If we mess up, if something goes wrong, we won't get a do-over, there would be no going back. If, if they got us, there would be nothing we could do about it and this whole trip would've been for _nothing_ because we wouldn't be **around **for the next two years. It would be game over, Nightwing, and- and I'm not ready for that."

"Yes, but Arty, we know what we are doing, we are trained _superheroes_! Not to _mention_ the fact that we have been doing this now for two weeks. We know what to do. If we just add two more days to our trip, we will be set! We wouldn't have to be stressed about dying of starvation or anything like that _ever_ again."

"I- let's do it."

Nightwing let out a cheeky smile, but chose to restrain from commenting and went back to packing their bags. Artemis shook her head, smiling, and shifted off her chair onto the floor, scooting closer to him. It was late, and if they still had another raid ahead of them, she needed her sleep.

Artemis picked the bag off his lap and set it on the floor next to her. She then slid it across the floor as far as she could, and without saying a word, took its place in his lap. She stretched her legs out behind her, until she heard the satisfying pop of her joints, and wilted into a loose ball, with her head cradles on his lap.

Nightwing stared down at her, and smiled. She had let her hair down, and her blonde hair spilled across his lap, and was shimmering slightly in the moonlight, accentuating her features even further. Her eyes were closed, and her dark lashes cast shadows on her cheekbones. She had the faintest of smiles on her lips, and her breathing had become slow and even. Nightwing reached to the right, and grabbed a blanket off the floor. Doing his best not to jostle her in any way, he laid the blanket on top of her. The second its warmth hit her skin, she let out a sigh, and snuggled deeper into his lap, and relaxed into a deep sleep.

Nightwing leaned back against the wall, and shifted down into a comfortable position. His left hand settled on the small of her back, and he closed his eyes. Soon he nodded off into a peaceful sleep, ready for the days ahead.

* * *

**So ya! there you have it! Stay tuned, cas there is at least one or two more chapters in this! What did you think of it? Let me know! I really appreciate reviews as they can only a) make be better, or b) motivate me to get off my lazy ss and write! Thanks for reading!**


End file.
